Nichiren

The story of the monk Nichiren (1222–82) and his struggle against the religious and political bureaucracies of Kamakura-period Japan contains plenty of dramatic elements: defiant stands against injustice, assassination attempts, close escapes, and lonely exiles, to name but a few. However, Murakami and Tanaka's manga biography sacrifices far too much background detail for the sake of accessibility to readers. For example, the Lotus Sutra is mentioned several times as the focal point of Nichiren's philosophy, but without any further explanation of that work's history or teachings. Characterization is also simplistic, with Nichiren's opponents presented without exception as mustache-twirling caricatures of villainy, and his followers, including such manga standbys as "spunky young warrior in training" and "mute ninja girl," adding nothing of value to the plot.